Amazon isn’t the only E (as in electronics) commerce sites… Newegg is also out there…

I agree, dinosaurs like Frys and Microcenter’s days are numbered… but I always thought they would catch a clue and invade each other’s markets… I also see a trend in box box stores picking up some of the slack possibly… Walmart in my area is looking to expand their stores into Super stores… possibly 24 hour ones if they get approval (and can deal with security/safety problems) since building new stores is getting big pushback.

Many smart companies long since diversified and those caught behind the trend and the last downturn in the economy (and the PC biz) wrecked their business as surely as running a ship aground on hidden shoals.

Sad that they’re trying to blame Amazon for their demise, which is a delusion, since Amazon is not their competition. NewEgg, Fry’s Electronics, and eBay always had better deals on new and used stuff than Geeks ever did. I remember many times considering a purchase at Geeks, only to compare them and realize that there was little point.

And today, the other place I would add to that list of competitors would be CowBoom, which is owned by Best Buy. CowBoom is what really stole Geeks thunder, as they use the same model of selling mostly used and refurbished computer equipment, but with obviously much better marketing.

I really don’t think that Amazon are responsible – as you have said, Geeks mainly sold refurbished and new old stock items. Often I would find things that nobody else still had in stock. I’m sorry to see them go! That said, they messed up on an order of mine a few years ago – I ordered a carton quantity of discs, but they only sent one spindle. If they were doing that regularly, I can imagine their business vanishing.

[QUOTE=negritude;2695306]Sad that they’re trying to blame Amazon for their demise, which is a delusion, since Amazon is not their competition. NewEgg, Fry’s Electronics, and eBay always had better deals on new and used stuff than Geeks ever did. I remember many times considering a purchase at Geeks, only to compare them and realize that there was little point.
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That was not always true. For example, Geeks had LGA 771 socket chips for pretty reasonable prices as compared to most eBay auctions. If I hadn’t already bought some E5450’s I would have jumped on the X5450 deal they had the last week they were in operation.

Similarly, every 2 months or so they’d have a deal on HP xw8600 workstations. I got mine with 8Gb DDR2 667 RAM and 2 X5260’s at 3.30Ghz, 256Gb GDDR3 NVIDIA FX3500/4000 card, and a 160Gb Velociraptor drive for $260 w/shipping. There was a Free Shipping.com rebate that I then applied for a $15 rebate. So $245 total. Not too shabby.

The only thing I’d say is that they needed the good deals around more frequently. And they had pretty high prices on some things like video cards, with few decent sales on them.

There are others, such as woot, and it’s lookalikes. Don’t just count the topline pc hardware… companies like Meritline and Asian direct to customer websites began selling tablets & Pc hardware directly to consumers from China/Hong Kong/Asia and eventually settled on local distribution points so that consumers wouldn’t be stuck with horrible return postage if something went wrong. A handful of the Asian ebay sellers are learning too. There’s also something to be said for episodes of local computer shops closing out and their inventory ends up on ebay dirt cheap. Sadly they tend to lookup Amazon seller’s prices and mirror those so it’s rare you actually get a deal (greedy much?). On occasion one will be cheaper for small things like accessories bulk refill inks, etc.

Newegg was right to diversify but had a steeper learning curve than Amazon. I’m hoping a store like OfficeMax closes ALL their stores and becomes an online only etailer because they can then focus on diversification. Give Amazon & Newegg a run for their money. They can give Staples a kick in the rear too by cross selling to schlock stores and dollar stores forcing staples to lower it’s prices on many common office supplies. Once Walmarts expand and convert to 24 hour stores OM and staples are going to be in trouble. The B&M scene will never be the same.